Phantom's New Peril
by SpeedyTomato7
Summary: Danny's life is great. The world is saved, everyone respects him, and he has a new girlfriend. Nothing could spoil it. That is, nothing could go wrong until he is targeted by three powerful enemies simultaneously. Just who are these villains and what are their motives this time?
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place immediately after Phantom Planet. What happens when Danny finally comes home? Read to discover!**

"Cool statue. Personally, I would have made it out of recycled materials, but you know, that's just me." Sam said to Danny as he was carrying her through the sky bridal style.

"Yep, that's my Sam." Danny replied.

The night was perfect; the breeze was gentle, the sky was free of clouds and gave way to millions of gleaming stars, and there were no ghosts attacking. _Wait…no ghosts are attacking?_ Danny thought to himself as he was flying. He remembered Skulker's last words to him before returning to the ghost zone: "_I will never stop hunting you. And now that you've saved your world, you're a much more valuable prize."_

It wasn't like Skulker to make a threat without attempting to follow through. Danny immediately began to panic. _When will he attack like he promised? What if he attacks now?! I can't fight while holding Sam forty feet off the ground! _His body started tensing up until it was taut like a guitar string, and Sam must've noticed this because she asked with a puzzled expression on her face, "What's with you? Your ghost sense hasn't gone off."

Danny didn't want his new girlfriend to see him as weak and paranoid, but this was Sam after all. She _had_ been involved in nearly every ghostly encounter he'd had. She'd always fought with his parents' gear or her own wits. Taking a deep breath, Danny admitted, "I'm scared." Sam just laughed, which wasn't helping to control his panic that was starting to bubble up. "Scared? Scared of what?" she managed to gasp in between gasps of laughter. "You, Danny Phantom, have done everything. You've defeated your future evil self, put down the ghost king, saved the world, and you've finally worked up the nerve to ask me out! What can you possibly be scared about? That Vlad will come back? Your father abandoned him in space!"

Even though her reaction chipped away at his pride, there was logic behind her words. What was there to worry about? He could handle anything. Besides, didn't Skulker have to go wash all of his victim's pelts or something? Surely he wouldn't attack so soon after Danny's heroism, right? Right.

"Ach-HEM!" came the sound of Sam clearing her throat loudly and deliberately. She was impatiently waiting for his answer. The more he thought about it, the more the reality of Skulker attacking now seemed ridiculous. "Well, if you must know," he lied, "I'm worried that my dad will want to celebrate the Earth being saved by serving ham." He shuddered, remembering the emergency ham in the fridge in the OP Center. That thing was vile. "Yuck!" Sam said, remembering those unfortunate times when she had to use the fridge to travel through the house. "If he offers, just tell him you want to order a pizza instead. There are no risks in that!"

Danny smiled at the thought. _Mmm pizza. _His stomach started to growl, and he realized he didn't have dinner yet. But it was getting late, and he had to get Sam home before her parents formed a mob again in search for her. Besides, he never believed that they actually lifted their restraining order. The two coasted on air cushions for another mile until Danny phased them through through her window and set her down gently on her bed. The goth's room was dark and eerie, yet oddly relaxing with its candles.

"Good night, Danny, and thanks for everything you've done and will do for me!" she said happily. "Anything for you, Sam. I'll always be there for you. I promise." Danny told her as he took off for Fenton Works.

When he got inside, it was eerily quiet. _That's odd. The last time the house was this desolate was when Nocturne attacked. I would at least expect Jazz to be home by now. She hates crowds because nobody wants to talk to her. Frankly, sometimes I don't either. _He thought, picturing Jazz without a mouth. _Much better. Jazz even talks too much in my imagination. _

A rustling noise in one of the cabinets brought the teen's senses back to alert mode. "Nice try, Dad!" he called out. Jack was always trying to spook him some way or another, and he always cried out a variation of, "Darn, you found me! Oh, well, it's time for fudge!" But, unlike the other times, there was no response this time. Instead, the rustling steadily grew louder. "Dad?" Danny called again, his voice cracking a little. The rustling abruptly stopped, when all of a sudden a loud SLAM! came from behind Danny. The halfa whirled around, startled, but didn't see anything. Panic was rising in his throat as he started to scream, when a glimpse of a black shadow and green fire through his peripheral vision cut him off. A voice confirmed that Danny was not the only one in the house.

"I warned you, ghost child, I will never stop hunting you." it said. A second, deeper voice joined the first. "And now, finally, your nightmare will truly begin." That was the last thing that Danny heard before his vision became blurry and dotted with black holes, which steadily yet rapidly grew until the darkness completely engulfed him.

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**A/N: Wow, that was fast! Those ghosts didn't even leave Danny alone for twenty four hours! What will happen when Danny wakes up? Wanna know? Please review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the concept of Danny Phantom or any of the characters in this story. I only own the plot and the computer that I am typing this on.**


	2. Chapter 2

The first sense that Danny's body registered was the feeling of something cold and hard resting beneath it. Curious as to what substance could be bearing his weight, Danny, now in his human form, rotated his ice blue eyes down to the ground where he saw the gray-white tiles of Casper High's cafeteria floor. Something sticky was keeping the halfa's left arm rooted to the ground as he attempted to move, but after a rough jerk upwards the substance gave way. Wondering what could've produced the large force, Danny's gaze drifted upwards until it rested on none other than Dash Baxter, the main jock of the football team and self-proclaimed "King of Casper High."

Towering over the underweight freshman below him, the blonde bellowed, "C'mon, FenTURD! Everyone knows that I'm always the first in line for lunch, get it?!" "Got it?" Danny responded in a hoarse yet confused tone. _I don't understand. Danny Phantom is -no, I am- Dash's idol. Why is he still bullying me like he did before the world knew the pathetic, shy Fenton boy was the strong, confident hero protecting it? _

The teen growled in annoyance, as this behavior was not what he expected as the Savior of the Ghost Zone and of the world. Grumbling to himself about thickheaded jocks and the unfortunate ignorance of the public, Danny peeled the rest of his body off of the ground and shamefully walked to the end of the already long lunch line. When he finally reached the lunch lady, instead of the fat, juicy hamburger and crisp French fries all the students were promised, he was greeted with, for lack of a technical name, grass on a bun. _Wait, what is this?! First "my biggest fan" ruthlessly continues to torment me, now I'm served an ultra-recyclo vegetarian meal?! Sam promised not to attempt change the menu after the lunch lady attacked that first time! _

Incredibly annoyed, he stomped to his usual lunch table in the back corner of his lunch room. The poor kid's day just couldn't possibly get any worse. Earlier that morning, he had failed his science test, and since he didn't have his notebook with him, he was forced to display his failure in his left pocket. Also, as he was walking back to his table, he received countless dirty looks from everyone who had cheered for and praised him just twenty-four hours prior to now. _Doesn't anyone remember what I revealed to them yesterday? Even Paulina, who's infatuated with the ghost boy, won't even glance my direction! _ The frustration and agony of rejection and hatred from his peers was haunting young Danny yet again, and his body was fizzing with rage because he just couldn't understand why.

As his body temperature continued to rise, a familiar, chilling blue wisp escaped from his mouth. _You've gotta be kidding me. Another ghost? Here? Now? Has Skulker finally resumed hunting me like he promised? _No. Not yet. Instead, an angry knight cloaked in purple fire hovered outside the cafeteria window, seeking a fight. Frightened at the sight of the Halloween spirit, all of the high school students with the exception of Danny, Tucker, and Sam, who just rolled their eyes in annoyance, fled. "Um, hello, Savior of the World, Ghost Boy, right here!" cried an exasperated Danny as he threw his hands up in the air. "Ok, I'm going ghost now!" he called as a last attempt to get some recognition from his peers. No response. _Forget it. This should only take five minutes at best._

For the hundred and fifty second time, two bluish white rings appeared at the halfa's waist and traveled up and down his body, transforming his red and white t-shirt and blue jeans into a black HAZMAT suit with a white collar, belt, gloves, boots, and logo, and his black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin into a tanned face with white hair and glowing green eyes. With the transformation from Fenton to Phantom complete, the Savior of the World rocketed outside to meet his challenger. "Hey, Fright Nut!" he screamed to the ghoul mounted aboard a black steed with a fiery green mane. "Do you know the freezing night of metal?" he asked, while simultaneously releasing a beam of ice from his palms. Surprised, the Fright Knight had no time to react and plummeted towards the ground, encased in an icy prison. "Neither do I, but I guess that explains why I'm failing Science."Danny smirked as he recalled the ghost back into his signature Fenton Thermos. Relieved and feeling proud, the halfa phased back through the window to find a still vacant cafeteria with the exception of his two best friends. With disappointment creeping back into his body, Danny changed back to his human form and attempted to bite into his grotesque lunch.

"Bet you wish Paulina could've seen you like that, huh, Danny?" Tucker joked, hinting at the raven headed kid's ongoing crush on her. Sam just rolled her eyes. She hated it whenever Paulina's name was mentioned because that girl was shallow and cruel, with no regard to anyone but herself. "Aw, come on guys!" Danny protested. "You both know there's only one girl for me!" Sam's eyebrows shot up in curiosity. "Oh yeah, and who would that be?" the goth retorted. "Valerie broke up with you remember?" _Okay, something's definitely wrong here. Sam and I started dating yesterday! There's no way she would've forgotten something like this! _

The halfa became extremely frantic to the point of near hyperventilation after hearing this. Sure, his memory had been wiped once before on accident, and he had no idea who Sam even was, but Desiree wasn't even near either of them with the exception of helping turn the Earth intangible. "You, Sam!" he exclaimed, hoping that the goth was teasing him yet again, which was a favorite past time of hers. However, her only response was to merely blink twice, a sign that showed her confusion. Even more frantic, Danny began to ramble, "The kiss before I went to the ghost zone, me giving you the class ring under the tree, do you remember any of that?" Sam just shrugged. "Um, no, sorry. I don't wear things that aren't black. And I only wore your stuff a few times when you were off somewhere else and someone needed to believe you were actually there." Tucker chimed in, "Dude, what's wrong with you today? You only gave the ring to Sam to hold after Valerie rejected you!" A sharp pang of rejection made Danny's stomach knot. Sam was the ONE person he expected to never change, and the ONE person he expected to be there for him no matter what. How could she not remember their status? Why was Tucker oblivious as well? Why was the entire student body of Casper High continuing to bully and hate him as if they never discovered the truth of his identity?

It was all just too much for Danny to handle all at once. Desperately, he pressed his face to Sam's, searching her eyes for any traces acknowledging she remembered everything that happened between them and that she had gotten everyone to pull some big hoax. Seeing nothing, Danny sighed in defeat, and was about to return to his side of the table when his vision went foggy, and the sound of something shattering over his head made him alert to something else happening. He realized his eyes were shut, and he pried them open to find himself surrounded by the familiar green walls of the ghost zone. Beneath his feet was the unmistakable rocky terrain of a certain hunter's territory.

"Phew, that was only a dream! But it was kind of a nightmare!" Danny acknowledged with relief, but still shuttering at the thought of returning to his own life. _But wait, what am I doing here? _He wondered. _Last I remembered I had dropped Sam off and was going home for dinner. _As if reading his thoughts, an ominous voice answered them. "Thought I'd relax from hunting you for awhile, ghost child? You are sadly mistaken." A shadow stepped from behind a rock until it was illuminated by the ghost zone's light and Danny could clearly make out the green fire and high-tech metal battle suit that composed Skulker's body. A second figure spoke from behind him. "Although you are awake, you are about to experience your worst nightmare." The halfa whirled around and was greeted by a thin, long space-like sea topped with Nocturne's scowling purple and gray face. His enemies joined together in perfect unison, "The time has come."

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**A/N: Ok, so Skulker and Nocturne have kidnapped the beloved Danny Phantom. What tragedy will befall our favorite half ghost now? Stay tuned!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Danny Phantom or any of the characters. I only own the plot, the title, and my computer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to the guest that wrote my first review! I'm so glad that you like it :) I'll try to update as fast as I can in between all the crazy stuff I have going on. And to all of my readers, here's chapter three! Enjoy!**

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"The time has come." The ghosts only uttered four short words, yet each word dripped with power and fear behind it. Even Danny, who has heard this one phrase countless times in all of the battles he's fought (especially those concerning the nuisances Technus and the Box Ghost), found himself excessively pondering over what it meant. _Is Skulker going to skin me while I'm anesthetized by Nocturne's sleep inducing powers? I've conquered those twice before, the first with the increased strength from the rest of the town's unconsciousness. Whatever these guys wanted with me, they would've done it while I was knocked out. Unless…unless they want to torture me, and they can only do that while I'm awake. _

"T-t-time for what?" he stuttered. It wasn't the fact that Skulker and Nocturne were particularly frightening, because the halfa certainly wasn't scared of either of them; Skulker's giant ego and a PDA that belonged to a certain techno geek always managed to thwart his plans, and the only real way Nocturne could obtain power is if many people were induced in slumber. However, the combination of these two together, with Nocturne's brains and Skulker's brawn, was a real force to be reckoned with, like in the dimension ten years into the future where Skulker and Technus allied and acted as a real threat to the fourteen-year-old ghost boy and his friends. Who knows what kinds of dangers will arise when the Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter and the King of Dreams combine?

"I thought you'd never ask, whelp." Skulker said with a devilish grin. "But I do recall telling you in another incident involving an ecto converter, I ask the questions around here." With that, an aquamarine-colored net shot out of a cannon from his left wrist and encased Amity's hero, pinning his arms and legs to his chest before he had the chance to fly away. Danny looked up not a moment later to see his assailant's neon green eyes peering at him through his robotic mask just inches away. They were alive with curiosity, and searching intensely for something deep inside the ghost boy. "Half human, half ghost. One of a kind…" he muttered. _Yes, the entire world knows that I'm a halfa! And that's exactly what Skulker said the first time we met! _Danny scoffed. _Poor thing must not be sure of what to say next. Plus, has he forgotten that two other halfas exist as well? He even worked for one of them! There's a reason Nocturne's the main brain of this duo. _The Ghost of Sleep's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "I believe you mean _we, _Skulker? _We _ask the questions?" he snarled, annoyed at the hunter's giant ego. They were supposed to be working together after all. "Yes, yes, of course." Skulker replied, obviously embarrassed to have been reprimanded in his captive's presence.

"So, ghost child," he began. "How are you and that Sam person doing lately?" he asked with a sly grin. _Um, what? First he's threatening to skin me alive and now he's suddenly changed the topic to Sam and me? _Danny thought in confusion. "Ah, yes!" Nocturne chimed. "I noticed the ghost boy and the goth girl were together in dreamland yet again! Do tell of your status!" he snickered. _What's so funny? And why do they care so much? _"Well, if you must know, as everyone else does, we are indeed lovebirds and we are together." the halfa answered defiantly. He remembered multiple times when their relationship had been denied, mainly in Ember's debut when he had been hypnotized into puppy love, and he was sick of being teased about it. He was so busy thinking about the past that he almost didn't catch Skulker raising his right wrist and muttering something into it. Almost. Danny's pupils dilated and his ears strained to hear what the hunter was saying. Unfortunately, Skulker realized he hadn't been inconspicuous enough and snapped his arm down to his side, so the halfa was unable to have any sense of what was just communicated. The confused look on Danny's face spoke clearly to Nocturne, who curtly answered, "Oh, it's nothing." before turning away and curling his mouth into a devilish smile when he wasn't in the ghost boy's view.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Danny Phantom," the King of Dreams said with his back still facing the halfa, "I have some business to take care of." He paused for a minute, then added, "Don't relax just yet, for I am not through with making your worst fears come alive." before disappearing in a purple wisp. Despite Nocturne's warning, Danny did relax, for he was now only in the company of one of his foes. He calmly used his ice abilities that he acquired the first time Undergrowth attacked to freeze his flexible cage and smash his way out with a ghost ray. Skulker wasn't surprised at all by the boy's escape; he'd managed to worm his way out of every single other one of his confinements before. In fact, the two had brawled so much that the hunter could even plan out his opponent's next three moves; first, he would shoot a ghost ray at one of his legs to ruin his balance. Then, he would rush in and try to deliver a punch strong enough to knock off his helmet. Finally, he would deliver a final blow to his chest, the core of his armor, usually through the method of shooting ice from his eyes. Skulker's first two predictions were confirmed as he saw a green beam of light rocketing toward his right thigh. He quickly leaped into a jumping jack to dodge, then lunged into a summersault seconds before Danny's fist was able to make contact with his head at a hundred and twelve miles per hour. Anticipating the next attack, Skulker turned intangible, but unfortunately, his opponent had already calculated how to change his strategy, and he aimed his icy blasts at the ground all around Skulker, forming an icy floor and several pillars to trap the hunter. Surprised, Skulker lost his intangibility, and before he was able to realize his mistake, Danny unleashed an incredibly powerful ghostly wail that sent his adversary hurtling through the ghost zone. With at least one ghost one the loose back home in Amity Park (there was always _something_ disturbing the peace), the hero took off for Fenton Works.

...

Sam was in a bad mood. Not only had her parents woken her up early yet again to greet the world with an "attitude of gratitude," but Tucker was off fulfilling his mayoral obligations and Danny wasn't answering his phone for some peculiar reason. The boy never picked up on the first ring because he was usually in the middle of a ghost fight when he was called, but he always answered by the third or fourth, and Sam had called him at least twelve times already. _Something's got to be wrong here. _The Goth acknowledged. _The only other time he didn't answer was when he was grounded, but there's no way his parents could find any fault in him right now. _She was just about to walk over to Fenton Works to find out what was up when a lean black shadow appeared at her door. "Hello, girl friend of the ghost boy." it said while morphing into its real figure. "You!" she screamed, pointing at the villain who almost trapped her and Danny inside his dream and army of Sleepwalkers. Nocturne just chuckled and released his signature purple mist from his hands, causing Sam to pass out into his ready arms. "Nice to see you again too. Now come with me, I have plans for you." he told the sleeping girl before teleporting himself and her out of the room.

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**A/N: So Danny has escaped, but now poor Sam has been kidnapped! Where did Skulker end up? What will Nocturne do when he realizes the ghost boy escaped once again? You'll have to wait and see! Please review and stay tuned! **


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